Seamus Coleman is one of Everton’s growing list of international players (Picture: Getty Images)

With the recent Republic of Ireland call ups, Everton have shown they are a dominant club in international football.

At the moment the club can boast three members of the Ireland squad, one in the USA World Cup squad, two in Belgium (including Romelu Lukaku) and three in the England squad with John Stones in reserve.

Add in Steven Naismith of Scotland and Darron Gibson and James McCarthy with Ireland, and before retirement, Steven Pienaar with South Africa. Oh and Bryan Oviedo would be in Costa Rica’s World Cup spot if he was healthy.

That is 15 players, not a bad sum out of the 25 or so that played a role in Everton’s season. It is hard to imagine a club outside of the Champions League having so many international players. While not all international teams are full of great players, it speaks to their quality that these lads are the best from their country.

Look at the big clubs in England and you see squads full of international players. That is the level Everton aspire to, and already we are seeing the club reach for that level under Robert Martinez.

International managers are rewarding these players, and Martinez by extension, for the style of play the Spaniard has imposed at Finch Farm. While everyone enjoys slagging off on their national coach, they recognize talented players and will usually call them up. It is yet another example of how well Martinez has done this year.

Now the next step is to get those better players. Everton need more than just international players, they need the stars of those squads. International players can do great things, but as we will see in Brazil this summer the stars have that extra bit of quality, even when playing against the best in the world. Everton need this quality, then they can make a realistic challenge for the Champions League.